The Courage They Didn’t Teach: Thomas Garrett Asked for the Next Fugitive

Each entry follows one life that faced danger, opposition, or erasure and stood firm without promise of reward. Some endured violence in the open. Others absorbed pressure in silence. Together, these stories show courage as a skill shaped by striving and refined long before applause, if applause came at all.

Courage is easy to praise when the bill comes due for somebody else. Thomas Garrett paid his own.

Thomas Garrett: 1789-1871

In May 1848, Garrett stood in a federal courtroom in New Castle, Del., before Chief Justice Roger Taney. Three years earlier, Garrett had helped the Hawkins family, including Emeline Hawkins, her husband, and their children, escape north after Delaware authorities released them from custody. Garrett gave them shelter, transportation, and a path toward Pennsylvania.

From the National Park Service:

The enslavers of the Hawkins family at the time of their flight (1845) were Elizabeth Turner and Charles Glanding. They both filed separate lawsuits against Garrett and Hunn. The suits sought exemplary damages in the amount of $500 per fugitive against Hunn and Garrett as provided in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. Each case was tried separately on successive days. The case of Glanding v. Hunn was tried on May 24th, 1848. The case of Turner v. Hunn resulted in a guilty confession entered on May 25th, 1848. The cases against Garrett, Glanding v. Garrett and Turner v. Garrett, were tried on May 26th and May 27th, 1848, respectively.

At the time of these trials, it was the custom of the U.S. Supreme Court that when the court was not in session, the justices would "ride circuit" and conduct trials in the various district courts. Thus, Supreme Court Chief Justice, Roger B. Taney, presided over the trials of Hunn and Garrett. The trials occurred at the New Castle Court House. The Court House was owned by the State of Delaware, but by agreement federal court proceedings were also conducted in the building.

Garrett knew what he was doing. He had spent years helping enslaved people move through Delaware on their way to freedom. He was a Quaker, an iron merchant, a husband, and a father. He also had no intention of obeying a law that demanded he turn frightened people back toward slavery.

His path had started decades earlier. At 24, Garrett helped rescue a free black woman who had been kidnapped and was being taken south to be sold. Delaware historians say the episode convinced him that helping enslaved people would become part of his life's work. He didn't drift into abolition; he chose it, knowing the choice could bring violence, arrest, and financial ruin.

From the Delaware Historical & Cultural Affairs:

Thomas Garrett is best known for his tireless efforts in behalf of the abolition of slavery. His first endeavor started at age twenty-four, by rescuing a kidnapped, free Black woman who was to be sold into slavery in the South. After this episode in his life, he was determined that his life’s work must be to help and defend enslaved African Americans.

From this time forward, Garrett never failed to assist any freedom seeker and his efforts on their behalf were well known. He is credited with helping well over 2,500 fugitive slaves in their journey to freedom.

Despite being threatened, assaulted, arrested, harassed, and carrying a $10,000.00 bounty for his capture, Garrett courageously assisted all asking for his help. Garrett’s arrest, conviction and judgment in the Hawkins case only seemed to double his efforts to help all oppressed persons.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 gave the slaveholders a federal weapon against men such as Garrett. In the Hawkins cases, juries awarded $1,000 to one claimant and $2,500 to another. 

From the National Park Service:

At the Garrett trials, Charles Glanding testified that Samuel Hawkins Sr. and Emeline Hawkins were husband and wife who lived in Queen Anne's County, Maryland in 1845. Samuel was a free man. Emeline was originally enslaved by Glanding's father, but Elizabeth Turner had been Emeline's enslaver for many years prior to the family's escape. Glanding testified that he was the enslaver of Samuel Jr. and Chester, who were the teenage sons of Samuel Sr. and Emeline. The couple had four younger children, who were also enslaved by Turner since they were born while Emeline was enslaved by her.
Robert Wright also testified that Turner was the enslaver of Emeline and her four younger children. He testified that Samuel Sr. had on several occassions tried to purchase the freedom of Emeline from Turner, but she was unwilling to agree to any terms.
Robert Cochran testified that he had assisted Wright in the capture of the Hawkins family. While Samuel Sr. was in custody, he admitted that Emeline and their children were enslaved.
Sheriff Jacob Caulk testified that the Hawkins family was brought to him in custody and were represented to be enslaved fugitives. Caulk brought the Hawkins family to the New Castle Court House for a hearing on a writ of habeas corpus before Delaware Chief Justice Booth. Booth found that there was no evidence to support any criminal charges against any member of the family. He also found that there was insufficient evidence presented regarding their enslaved status and ordered the family to be released from custody. Caulk also testified that he heard that Garrett was informed that some freed Blacks were being held in the New Castle jail illegally.

Garrett left court owing $3,500 in damages, plus costs, because he had helped a family get away.

A U.S. marshal apparently thought the lesson had been delivered. After the verdict, he told Garrett he hoped he would now mind his own business and stop meddling with slaves.

Garrett answered in front of the crowd. If anyone knew an enslaved person who needed help, he said, "send them to me." He wouldn't pass up another chance to help someone reach freedom.

The court had just punished him for his work. Garrett responded by asking for his next case.

This is part of the courage we often clean up when we teach history. We remember the victory, the statue, and the paragraph in a textbook. Garrett didn't know how the story would end. He knew only what the next knock on his door might cost him.

And people kept knocking.

Delaware's historical records credit Garrett with helping more than 2,500 freedom seekers. He was threatened, assaulted, arrested, and harassed, and at one point had a $10,000 bounty placed on him. 

None of it persuaded him to quit.

He also became part of the network that made Harriet Tubman's missions possible. Tubman repeatedly moved through Delaware with help from black families, abolitionists, and Garrett in Wilmington. 

The Underground Railroad wasn't a railroad, and it wasn't a single heroic figure moving people north. It was a chain of people who knew that one broken link could send a human being back into bondage.

Garrett remained one of the strong links.

Ten years after his trial, Garrett turned 69. He celebrated his birthday in a way that tells us almost everything about the man.

He wrote to fellow abolitionist William Still that he could think of no better way to mark the day than by sending him two fugitives, a husband and wife. While other men might have counted candles, Garrett counted two more people moving toward freedom.

Thomas Garrett died in 1871. Slavery had been abolished. The law that once punished him had been swept away by war and constitutional amendment. History eventually came around to his side.

But Garrett's courage was never dependent on history agreeing with him. He didn't get to read the final chapter before deciding what kind of man he would be.

The bill came to his door in 1848. He paid it, looked up, and asked who needed help next.

Other columns in this series